More 18 footer spills and thrills

by Samantha Crichton on 11 Jan 2003 The run of first places for Howie Hamlin and crew Mike Martin and Rod Howell on GE/US Challenge came to a halt today when local crew on Express Post of Hugh Stodart, Niall Kinch and Andrew Hay got the gun on the finish 1 second ahead of fellow local crew Tony Hannan, Cameron Macdonald and Greg Windust on Total Recall.

In third spot by less than a second was overall point's leader Rob Greenhalgh, Peter Greenhalgh and Dan Johnson on RMW Marine.

Express Post managed to win even after having sheethand Niall Kinch flung overboard in the first lap of the race. Winners of the previous two heats GE/US Challenge dropped out of the top positions after having a capsize at Shark Island which resulted in them finishing fifth overall.

Anthony Young and crew Geoff Beauchop and Tim Webster on Computer Associates had a fantastic start but had a spinnaker pole, that had recently been replaced after another crash, break in the last downhill run off Bradley's Head in the last leg of the race.

The Sou' East course with a breeze of 18-20knots saw the top 14 finishers of the fleet finish within 5minutes if each other which provided the spectator fleet with some fantastic viewing.

The final day of racing in the JJ Giltinan International Trophy, Casio Seapathfinder Day, will see another spectacular day of racing with all 28 boats giving it everything they have to achieve the best overall position they can. There will be 2 spectator ferries following the fleet, one leaving at 2:15pm and the other at 2:45pm. For more information please see the website at www.18footers.com.au or call 9363 5327.

Overall point-score after Heat 6

1 RMW Marine(UK) Rob Greenhalgh, Dan Johnson, Peter Greenhalgh 27.7

2 Total Recall(AUS) Tony Hannan, Cameron McDonald, Greg Windust 42.4

3 GE/US Challenge(USA) Howie Hamlin, Mike Martin, Rod Howell 44.7

4 Omega Smeg(AUS) Trevor Barnabas, Matt Felton, Trent Barnabas 49.7

5 Express Post(AUS) Hugh Stodart, Niall Kinch, Andrew Hay 50

6 Aristocrat(AUS) Gary Phillips, Dave Gibson, Michael Shane 70.7

7 Computer Associates(AUS) Anthony Young, Geoff Beauchop, Tim Webster 79.1

8 Yandoo(AUS) John Winning, Daniel Phillips, John Winning 80

9 Asko Appliances(AUS) David Lumb, Greg O’Shea, Andrew Divola 84

10 Casio Seapathfinder(AUS) Michael Coxon, Aaron Links, Phil Hebden 88.7

11 Terry Hogan Prestige Cars(AUS) Chris Dixon, Greg Dixon, Dave Smith 127

12 Rag and Famish Hotel (AUS) Warwick Rooklyn, Kevin Nixon, Chris Cleary 129

13 Flawless(ITA) Pablo Soldano, Gabriele Bruni, Mauro Galante 133

14 Fisher and Paykel(AUS) Grant Rollerson, Paul Williams, John McKenna 136.7

15 RADII(UK) Andy Richards, Andy Fairley, Dave Richards 143

16 Churchill’s Sports Bar(AUS) Ben Austin, Shane Guarana, Tim Austin 144

17 Sunday Telegraph(RSA) Clynton Wade-Lehman, Cameron McDonald, Ben Stephens 147

18 Avaya(AUS) Peter Morrison, Matthew Brown, Aaron Smith 150

19 16 Ovington Boats(UK) Dave Ovington, Martin Goodlad, Roy Goodlad 152

20 LinkAssociates.com(UK) Tim Penfold, Andrew James, Will Penfold 158

21 New Zealand(NZ) Chris Skinner, Alex Vallings, James Fleet 165

21 Computacenter(UK) Neal Fitzgerald, Andy Jefferies, Paul Hargreaves 165

23 Ronstan(UK) Geoff Carveth, Steve McLean, Jeremy Reed 171

24 Base 1(UK) Rob Dulson, Paul Constable, Alec McKinlay 175

25 Rosemount Estate(AUS) Micah Lane, Peter Harris, Chris Pomfret 181

25 Ernst & Young(UK) Jarrod Simpson, Simon Nearn, Harvey Hillary 181

26 Team Canada(CAN) Fred Eaton, Rob Paterson, Jason Lemieux 184

27 Hermes(UK) Ed Browne, Mark Tait, Anthony Esse 186